Architectural Acoustics:

shaping space in a noisy world

Let us wander through a great modern city with our ears more
alert than our eyes, and enjoy distinguishing between the sounds
of water, air, or gas in metal pipes, the purring of motors which
breathe and pulsate with indisputable animalism, the throbbing
of valves, pounding of pistons, screeching of gears, clatter of
street cars on their rails, cracking of whips, flapping of awnings
and flags. We shall enjoy fabricating the mental orchestrations of
the banging of store shutters, the slamming of doors, the hustle
and bustle of crowds, the din of railroad stations, foundries,
spinning mills, printing presses, electric power stations, and
underground railways... [Luigi Russolo - The Art of Noises 1913.]
Architectural Acoustics
Sound Theory
Definition
The human ear
Sound generation
Physics of sound
Behaviour of sound
Sound measurement and hearing
Sound reflection, diffraction & diffusion
Sound
Sound waves are generated by any
vibrating body.
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an
oscillation of pressure transmitted
through a solid, liquid, or gas,
composed of frequencies within the
range of hearing
Acoustics is the science of sound,
including its production, transmission,
and effects.
"acoustic" is derived from the
Greek word (akoustikos), meaning "of
or for hearing, ready to hear and that
from (akoustos), "heard, audible",
which in turn derives from the verb
(akouo), "I hear".
Roman theater: Amman, Jordan
Hearing
Hearing is a whole body experience.
We hear with our ears, but also with our skin, skeleton,
diaphragm, the soles of our feet.
Whichever parts of our body sense mechanical vibration can
be said to hear.
Indeed feelings of unease, a haunting nausea, can be
experienced with standing waves of the order of the resonant
frequency of the diaphragm, around 7-12 Hz. (cycles per
second).
Physiology of hearing.
We have two ears, left and right, about 12-15 cm
apart. That there are two:
allows some redundancy - if we damage one ear we are not completely
deaf,
allows all-round hearing,
helps us spatialise: sounds to the right will be picked
up directly by the right ear, whilst the left ear has
the head in the way, also they will strike the right ear
first.
The outer ears or pinnea
allow us to discern which part of the hemisphere the sound is
coming - they are location finders.
Our sense of balance
allows us to keep our ears level, and to know when they are
not.
Together this gives us very good location-finding, especially in
the most sensitive range.
From pinna to eardrum is called the outer ear.
The middle ear
air-filled - consists of the eardrum and little bones - stirrup,
hammer and anvil, whose purpose is to collect and
mechanically amplify vibration from the ear drum and pass it
to the inner ear.
The Euastachian tube connects the middle ear to the back of
the mouth, so that we can equalise the air pressure either side
of the ear drum.
The inner ear:
fluid filled tubes, terminating in the round and oval window,
the labyrinth ( a deeply resonant architectural word) the sense-organ
of balance, and the cochlea, (snail) a tapeing tube curled up
into a spiral, within which the basilar membrane, with tiny hairs,
acts as a frequency analyser.
This information flows through the auditory nerve to the brain.
There are formidable powers of signal processing involved in
reducing the complex audible information into something that
makes sense
Bodily responses to sound
These include:
delight
ecstasy of dancing
a dream-like ecstasy of stillness
adjusted heartbeat, breathing, posture
irritation
nausea
vomiting
terror
fleeing.
Even low levels of background noise impede deep sleep, affect
concentration, performance, well-being.
Music on the other hand can increase performance, whether
marching songs or work songs, whose rhythms reinforce physical
movement, or in the cerebral effects of listening - the so-called
Mozart effect.
Sound & Noise
Very subjective (sound from a person may
become noise to the other person)
Definition of Noise
Unwanted sound
2 main components:
Unwanted sound noise control
Wanted sound prepare the most comfortable
environment for hearing (room acoustics)
In urban area urbanisation has resulted in
large number of noise sources (industries, traffic,
aeroplane, construction works, etc)
In countryside lesser density, lesser noise
In tropical area, noise control is rather
difficult because:
More time spent outdoor
Conflict between heat, light & sound control
Hot humid condition require lightweight
construction and many openings
Noise control in the tropics require early
decision making especially at the stage of
planning rather than at detail design stage.
Designers must be clear on the actual
problems of noise & methods of control
Must understand the basic physical
principles and its psychology
Noise transmission influenced by wind direction &
temperature
The use of space, its usersetc
Physical Characteristics
Sound originates from vibrating solid body
which consequently vibrated the air and
enters ear
Medium of flow air/solid
Intensity of sound is shown by amplitude
Frequency of sound(f) the number of
wave per unit time Hertz(Hz)
1Hz= 1wave/sec
Wave velocity (v) m/s
Wavelength () m
The relationship is shown as v=f x
Type of common frequency (Hz):
Lowest tone bass 100Hz
Lowest tone soprano singer 1200 Hz
Spacing tone of grand piano 25 to 4200 Hz
Highest tone of piccolo flute 4600Hz
The value of velocity is constant for the
carrying medium at any specific density.
Air density & sound velocity changes with
temperature
The human ear is capable of hearing sounds within a
limited range.
Many animals hear a much wider range of
frequencies than human beings do.
Our hearing limit?
Noise
Scale of noise level is known as decibel
(dB), a logarithmic unit
The decibel is used for a wide variety
of measurements in science and
engineering, most prominently in
acoustics
Normally, weighing scale A will be
added to the loudness of sound = dBA
Noise
Noise has two distinct but related meanings:
chaotic sound (e.g. white noise) or in the
more usual colloquial sense:
sound of negative value: (e.g. noisy
neighbours) things that worry or annoy us -
things wewould rather not hear - a value
judgement, very dependent on context.
For example: water sounds have a different
significance in a desert.
Effect of Noise
65 dBA causes disturbances psychologically
90 dBA - long exposure for a number of years
causes permanent lost of hearing
100 dBA exposure within a short period causes
temporary disturbance, in a longer period causes
damage to hearing organs
120 dBA causes pain
150 dBA loss of hearing instantly
Subjective factors brain condition&perception (in
a quiet conditionsound of clock-20 dBA may be
disturbing, uncomfortable to listener,)
Decibel levels:
10 - Normal breathing
10 - Soundproof room / anechoic chamber
20 - Whispering at 5 feet
30 - Soft whisper
30 - Quiet Auditorium
50 - Rainfall
50 - Light Traffic
60 - Normal conversation
70 - Department Store or a Noisy Office
90 - Heavy Traffic (at 5ft)
110 - Shouting in ear
110 - A Heavy Truck at 50ft
120 - Thunder
120 - Rock Concert / Pain threshold
130 - Jack Hammer (at 5ft)
Athanasius Kircher - phonic buildings from
the Misurgia Universalis 1650
Behaviour of Sound: Reflection,
Refraction, and Diffraction
Reflection: sound waves bounce off surfaces and
they follow the same laws as things like billiard balls.
That is the angle of incidence equals the angle of
reflection. Sound waves leave the surface at the
same angle at which they hit the surface
Diffraction: the tendency of waves to bend around
objects they encounter.
This is to be distinguished from transmission in which
sound waves pass through the object. Diffraction
often produces the appearance of waves having
passed through an object when in fact they have
simply gone around it.
In general, the lower the frequency, the better the ability of
the wave to go around an object.
Higher frequency waves are more directional, and more
likely to be blocked by objects in their path.
Refraction: This is the bending of a wave as it passes from one
medium to another.
Sound waves can be refracted by passing through the
interface between to different media or, more commonly, by
passing through the interface between two different states of
the same medium.
The nighttime condition in which the air near the ground is cooler
than the air higher up (temperature inversion) results in sound
traveling long distances at night.
We sometimes hear cars on far away freeways or conversations
from across a lake under these conditions.
END